


like a heartbeat

by jilyspotter



Category: Love Simon (2018), Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
Genre: Fluff, M/M, bram is oblivious, bram pines too, kids in love, leah is annoyed, nick is just happy simon is getting some, same with garrett to bram lol, simon gets abby to help him find blue, simon pines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-03-31 12:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13975134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jilyspotter/pseuds/jilyspotter
Summary: simon spier was never very good at wanting. he liked to have the things he wanted close to his heart, and this frustrating thing with blue was the furthest thing from close. he wanted and wanted and wanted, until he could burst from the sheer magnitude of his wanting. why then, did blue not appear every lunch time and sit with him at his lunch table, or cuddle with him, or debate the finer points of j k rowling's literature with him whilst sitting on his couch eating oreos?it was because simon did not know who blue was, and he very much wanted to fix that.orsimon enlists abby to help him find his email-soulmate, bram is totally oblivious, leah is frustrated it took them this long, nick finds it hilarious, garrett cheers his bro on and abby is a boss bitch who makes things happen (and knew who blue was all along)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> enjoy two soft bois falling in love via email

Simon was pining, and pining hard. And it was all Abraham Greenfeld’s fault.

Stupid Bram with his cute soccer calves and his cute hands and his cute, cute, cute

Every time he looked at Bram, he got familiar butterflies in his stomach that never quite seemed to go away. This all stemmed from the fact that Simon had been emailing Bram under the pseudonym of ‘Jacques’ for months and months, and somehow, when Simon had emailed Bram about his post on the creeksecrets tumblr for the first time, they had struck up a beautiful and meaningful (sometimes shitposty) relationship, always bordering on the edge of flirty.

It was never explicitly said, but the consensus was that Jacques and Blue were never to know each other’s identities. How then, did Simon manage to find out who ‘Blue’ was? He did some major freaking sleuthing, of course.

The first course of action was to look through all of the emails they had sent each other as Jacques and Blue. Simon did not gain anything from that, apart from the ever-present mushy feeling in his stomach that may have felt like oreos, but was most definitely not.

No, this was a love, a great pining of which the likes were never seen in Creekwood before, and will probably never be seen again (until next year). Alas, no clues were anywhere to be found in the body of the emails. How about the secret email name Blue had given himself – bluegreen118@gmail.com?

Well, Simon was never the most astute of blond closeted gay teenage boys in Georgia with a penchant for striped t-shirts and Elliott Smith, so he recruited none other than Abby Suso, the only one of his close friends he could trust not to mock him mercilessly for having a crush on someone (regardless of gender). Abby figured that Blue’s private email would have to be somehow connected to his real name and/or identity, and that maybe the random numbers after bluegreen might not be so random after all.

So Abby, major goddess that she was, also realised that it could be his birthday. She (obviously, of course) therefore started to search for boys that had birthdays on January 18th.

Considering the size of their school, it was actually considerably harder than both Abby and Simon had expected. For one, random boys did not appreciate a new girl walking up to them – right up to them, like in-your-face up to them – and when questioned about their date of birth, said boys would mumble an incoherent response and awkwardly shuffle away (of course, Abby knew better than to go anywhere near the ‘popular’ clique, so their information base was mostly limited to the rejects and outcasts – and half of the soccer team, thanks to Nick and, by extension, Bram).

The lunch table was obviously off-limits, because well, seriously Abby, you think he wouldn’t have noticed if one of us was? O she of little faith, how she wounded Simon (and how right she was – if only Simon wasn’t so blind, both literally and figuratively, he might have noticed that the only boys he did not explicitly know the birthdays of were the two mysterious – or not, just very quiet, in Bram’s case – jocks at their designated lunch table).

So, fruitless remained the search, and disastrous remained Simon’s love life after attempting one very awkward date with Cal at WaHo (what? they did good waffles).

Until January 2015, the year of the goat, weekend of celebrating Martin Luther King Jr and birthdays of Bram and Morgan from the lunch table. Aside from the fact of this week being the best week of the year to sit at the exclusive lunch table of Simon, Abby, Nick, Leah, Bram, Morgan etc (because as always, Leah brought in two tray cakes (uh, yeah, major freaking awesome!) and cake is the ultimate bringer-of-people-to-a-table in high school (not so awesome)), Abby had set a reminder on Simon’s phone so he could remember to be on extra-high alert for Blue, the boy who had stolen his heart.

This resulted in his heart jumping out of his chest every time the colour blue was mentioned at lunch (what he didn’t notice was that Bram always reacted the same way as well: eyes almost comically widening, an imperceptible squeak escaping from his seldom-used vocal cords), Simon himself literally jumping a few inches out of his seat every time he heard a notification (stupidly, he realises, he hadn’t set a specific ringtone for Blue and was starting to deeply regret it.) and the week before being a haze of blueblueblue.

On the night of January 17th, Simon simply could not get to sleep. Considering it was a Saturday, it didn’t really matter, but considering it was also the night before ‘118’, Simon felt it was justified. Tomorrow morning, he would wake up to dozens of messages flooding his timeline, all screaming ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!’ in caps lock to a name Simon could not yet put a face to, making sure he could not forget – on January 18th he would know who his (well, not exactly soulmate yet, but he thought they were pretty close) e-penpal was, and would hopefully get to send them a happy birthday email.

Shaking with excitement at the thought of something so momentously life-changing, Simon nearly resorted to taping his eyes shut because he was so antsy about tomorrow. Of course, it didn’t help that right as he was on the cusp of sleep, Abby Suso decided to ruin him by texting him, ‘happy blue’s birthday eve! this is your big chance si!!!’, only hyping him up even more.

Deciding that he wasn’t going to get any sleep without some sort of catalyst, Simon expertly manoeuvred himself to his desk (yes, he had creaky floorboards in his room but that didn’t mean he was going to deny his family their sorely needed beauty sleep, what kind of a person did you think he was?) and opened his laptop, hoping to drown out the nerves with some Elliott Smith. Seeing that it was 1:34am and hoping desperately that someone would have already posted a birthday message to Blue, he opened Facebook instead.

This was the million dollar question, the deciding factor that would change his fate (in high school, college was a whole other world).

At 12:56am: Garrett Laughlin posted ‘happy birthday @Bram Greenfeld! ur my best bud and ur not too bad at soccer either, have a great day’

At 12:58am: Bram Greenfeld replied ‘Thanks @Garrett Laughlin, let’s hope @Leah Burke brings in my sheet cake this year lol'

  
*  
Of course.

Of course it was Bram Greenfeld, star of the soccer team, who got As on every test and who also happened to be Blue.

How could it have ever been anybody else? How could Simon have been so stupid?

Bluegreen118 – as in, Bram Louis Greenfeld January 18th.

Blue, as in Bram (who always had perfect grammar in emails and got full marks on most tests Simon had ever seen).

Bram, as in the quiet boy who sat with him at lunch and didn’t say a word.

The quiet boy, as in the one who gets tongue-tied when speaking to cute guys.

Cute guys, meaning literally anyone. (wow could Simon be jealous of the entire guy population of Creekwood easily)

*

Crap. Bram of the soft eyes and soccer calves was the boy he had been emailing back and forth for months, and worst of all, he was not mad about it. Not even a tiny bit. It was unexpected but somehow made perfect sense.

Now all Simon had to do was put those thoughts into an email to Blue – no, Bram(!) – and send it without losing his nerve. Best to do it while his resolve was more like steel and less like tissue paper, he thought.

*

To: bluegreen118@gmail.com

From: hourtohournotetonote@gmail.com

Subject: Happy Birthday!

Dear Blue,

Happy birthday!

This must be a momentous occasion for you, turning 18! You can legally drink (in Europe - :( ), buy lottery tickets, get several tattoos, go skydiving, sue someone and/or go to jail!

Have a great year and don’t do a lot of illegal things. Some are okay, but now you can go to jail I would err on the side of caution. There’s no constant access to gmail in prison :).

Love, Jacques.

(P.S. Don’t worry, I haven’t been stalking you and I sincerely hope you are the person I think you are, otherwise this will get very awkward very quickly. I guessed that your birthday was the 118 in your email address, so then everything fell into place pretty easily.

So, happy birthday Bram. I hope you get everything you want. I’ll save some smiles for you today.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> blue replies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok i lied, this fic will have more than two chapters  
> enjoy xo

As soon as he had pressed send, Simon knew he was in trouble. He felt shaky, sick, shivery. Clammy all over, panicky from his head to his pinkie toes. The only gamble Simon Spier had ever taken without being 100% sure of the risks (no Leah, he definitely knew the risks of climbing up that really bendy tree in Nick’s garden, what was she trying to imply?), and it was the most important one.

*

Maybe Abby would be awake? Simon decided to try and text her, at least once.

And well, if she was awake at 2:13am, it was her own fault she would be dragged into a downwards spiral.

Simon Spier: hey Abby are u awake?

Simon Spier: im pretty sure i fucked up

Simon Spier: shit shit shit swhit shit shir shit

Abby Suso: aah i see you found out

Abby Suso: finally

Simon Spier: um shut up

Simon Spier: also i sent him a happy bday email???

Simon Spier: why did i do that

Simon Spier: now hes gonna thin kim stalking gim

Abby Suso: first of all, no

Abby Suso: second of all, having carefully observed you both at lunch, I think he will just be impressed u managed to figure it out :))))

Simon Spier: this is so bad its gnna be so akward

Simon Spier: we’re in english tgether frst period Tuesday

Simon Spier: on the first day back!! why do we have to celebrate mlk weekend now why cant it be next week

Abby Suso: simon maybe he’ll email u back

Abby Suso: im willing to make a bet

Abby Suso: $5 that hes impressed that u were so smart and you end up dating before the week ends

Simon Spier: ok fine

Simon Spier: just know im about to be $5 richer bc that’s never gonna happen

Simon Spier: xoxo simon spier

*

On Monday 19th January 2015, Simon Spier was bored of playing video games, had had enough of reading drarry fanfiction and was very apprehensive about going back to school the next day. It was only 11am.

Martin Luther King Day had not been chosen to come at a worse time for Simon, and although ordinarily he would be thrilled at a day off school, his friends were all still asleep. How was it that all 3 of his closest friends were not morning people? (Admittedly, Simon could never force himself to get out of bed in the morning either, but that was a different story entirely when staying up until 4 in the morning meant he was suddenly not sleepy at all, and subsequently spent the hours until it was acceptable to wake up early watching vine compilations.)

Texting Leah, Abby and Nick incessantly in the hope that one of them would wake up was not Simon’s finest hour, he would admit. But it worked, so who was the real winner here? (Simon, because the others were unwillingly woken up, obviously)

They made plans to go to WaHo – who were they kidding, it was basically a given that they would go to WaHo, sit in the same spot they usually did and sit there for about 3 hours until the grumpy waitress informed them that if they weren’t going to buy anything else, _they should really leave now_ – and Nick made the rounds, picking up Simon and Leah. Abby would meet them there, after they had snagged a table.

When she arrived, Abby immediately shot Simon a Look that said ‘I know what you did, and also I will be $5 richer by Friday so you might as well buy me whatever I want’.

There was no way in hell that was happening, so instead of warm pancakes Abby received a frosty glare.

 

*

 

When Simon returned to his house, it was to Bieber eating (or trying to eat) his favourite pair of Converse. Simon knew that Nora had probably seen this and encouraged Bieber to keep chewing, so he yelled to her,

“Nora! Why is Bieber chewing my Converse to pieces? I know you saw him do it, you have no excuses.”

“Ugh, I didn’t even know you went out.”

Nora was in her rebellious phase, and frankly, Simon was beginning to find it very annoying (but still hilarious – it was only a few years ago that Simon himself had that phase, and he, to this day, did not know why).

“Have you had lunch?” he shouted up to her. Nora was notorious for forgetting to eat in the Spier household.

“Yeah I had a grilled cheese. I’m doing homework. Leave me alone.”

 

*

 

As soon as he entered his room, Simon remembered that he had emailed Blue on Sunday and had forgotten (or avoided, it was simply a matter of perspective) to check if he had written back. He nearly ran over to his desk.

Simon did not run over to his desk. One, because he severely disliked anything to do with voluntary exercise and two, because his room was not that big and he would end up catapulting himself over it and into the window.

However, he did walk very quickly over to the desk and opened his laptop like it was a life-or-death situation. If Nora had seen his anxious ‘quick-i-have-to-check-if-my-secret-maybe-boyfriend-has-emailed-me-back-yet’ walk, she would have mocked him for needing to take a piss so badly. Thankfully, she had not.

Upon starting his laptop up and logging into his secret email, Simon started to get very nervous. His hands were clammy and gross and his forehead might have been permanently stained with the sheen of sweat, who knows?

 

*

 

From: [bluegreen118@gmail.com](mailto:bluegreen118@gmail.com)

To: hourtohour.notetonote@gmail.com

Subject: Re: Happy Birthday!

Wow Jacques, you really know how to make a guy feel special on his birthday. Thanks, I guess? You know, it’s not every day I get a tattoo (and it’s not today, spoiler alert).

You are also correct about no gmail in prison, although I could sneak my phone in and talk to you from there. It would be worth it until I get caught and put in a maximum-security prison. Then you are just irrelevant, words on a screen :).

Yes, you guessed correctly. I’m not quite sure how I feel about this new development, but everything happens for a reason? To be completely honest, I was not expecting that email at all, and it threw me off for a bit. But if you’re willing to take the next step, I am too.

Unless I am very wrong, I have a pretty good idea of who you are too. The thing is, you kind of talk how you write. And no, even if you hadn’t mentioned Mr Wise multiple times – I’m assuming purely by accident - I would still be able to work out who you are. So I might slip a couple of references to our emails in random conversations throughout the day, and hope that you get them.

Love,

Bram.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know i said it would be finished by the end of the week but i didn't actually get around to doing it, so have a kind of filler chapter instead.  
> no i have not seen the film yet, it come out on april 6th in england (that's actually my sister's birthday so i have to wait until april 7th aah)  
> anyway the last and final chapter should be up sometime in the next week (i hope)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> simon is a disaster gay but it all works out in the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took me ages, enjoy!

Simon Spier: abbby ho ly shit I kisd you not brams emailed me and ghe said he thought he knes who ir was

Simon Spier: we have english and algebra togtehr tmrw!!

Simon Spier: im such a mess omg

Abby Suso: si I’m sure its fine

Abby Suso: what’s the worst that could happen, you think he’s cute

Simon Spier: yeah but whta if he gest it wrong anmd he doensn want it to be me

Simon Spier: what if he thikns its Cal Price

Abby Suso: ok but it could be martin

Abby Suso: think about that

Simon Spier: u know martin he used to like u

Simon Spier: like a lot

Simon Spier: he kept making me invite u places and I think he actually threatened to break my leg if I didn’t

Simon Spier: u know like in drama but for real

Abby Suso: wow glad I dodged that bullet

Abby Suso: anyway he stares at u all the time at lunch u have nothing to worry about

Simon Spier: what MARTIN????

Abby Suso: no omg I meant Bram

Simon Spier: wait u mean Bram right

 

 

Simon Spier: abby help

Simon Spier: i didnt give him my number

Simon Spier: aaah why am i like this

Simon Spier: but then again do i really want him to find out that its me

Simon Spier: not really

Simon Spier: so

Abby Suso: si go to bed its 1am

Simon Spier: um rude

*

 

Trying to sleep was equivalent to the ninth circle of hell, Simon thought. Especially when he was unsure on what tomorrow would bring.

What would Bram say? Would he say anything at all? Would he try to make a move on Cal Price and be rejected because Simon was too chicken to tell him?

Wow, Simon was going to have such huge under-eye bags tomorrow.

 

*

 

With English first period, Simon was way in over his head. He had already forgotten to tie his shoelaces, eat breakfast and bring Nora with him to school. She had been ringing him for the last 5 minutes, and eventually decided to give up, texting her older and more superior brother instead.

Yes, he was turning around. Yes, he did forget her. Yes, he did want to get an oreo milkshake but that was beside the point.

*

Simon was walking to English with Abby when he caught sight of Bram out of the corner of his eye. He was wearing a collared shirt under a soft pink sweater and Simon thought he might spontaneously combust if Bram so much as looked at him. He looked like oreos tasted, and coming from a worldwide oreo expert/connoisseur/worshipper that was high praise indeed.

Deciding to sit on the crusty old sofa Mr Wise had in his classroom, sandwiched between Abby and Garrett (safe options), Simon started to re-evaluate his life choices.

He only had English and algebra with Bram today, and then lunch, where he sat 3 seats away. If he managed to avoid Bram for the entirety of English (and algebra, although they sat about a mile away from each other), Simon would still have to see him at lunch and potentially suffer life-ruining embarrassment. What if he slipped a couple of references to their emails and Bram had no clue what Simon was on about? What if that situation was reversed, and Bram said something obscure that Simon had forgotten about, leading Bram to believe that Jacques and Simon were not one and the same (and also totally obsessed with him)?

Worst case scenario, Bram never found out that Jacques was, in fact, Simon Irvin Spier. Simon would be too chicken to tell him, and then he would pine over him for eternity. Blue had absolutely stolen his heart, and so Simon did not think he could live without Bram knowing who Jacques was, even if he didn’t like it. He silently resolved to talk to Bram at lunch, because right now was too soon, and Simon needed to go over what he was going to say at least 17 times.

Bram obviously did not get that memo, because when Simon had zoned out, he poked Garrett and asked to switch places with him. Bram knew something was up with Simon, and he guessed it had something to do with his email. Bram was 99.7% sure Simon was Jacques, and if the way Simon was furtively glancing at him with a violently red blush was anything to go by, he knew there was a reason for it.

See, Simon didn’t usually pay attention to Bram, apart from the occasional “hey, do you have a spare pen?” etc. Even though they had been sitting at the same lunch table for two years, Bram was still so painfully shy around Simon that any chance of something developing naturally went straight (or not) out of the window.

Bram didn’t even know if Simon liked guys.

Nevertheless, he persisted and decided to just go for it – tap Simon on the shoulder and say something referring to their emails, maybe make a pun. Simon liked puns, Bram thought.

*

“Hey, I know this might be a bit out of the blue, but do you like oreos?”

Simon whipped his head around to face Bram.

His face had gone red so quickly Bram thought he looked like a tomato.

“You know.”

“Jacques. It’s Blue.”

*

Completely oblivious to Mr Wise and the rest of the English class, Bram and Simon smiled softly at each other for an hour, with occasional hand-brushing and ankle-touching. Every time Abby looked at them, she would nudge Garrett, as if to say ‘look how nauseatingly cute our best friends are being’. They weren’t even touching, and the sexual tension was already palpable. God, Simon must have it really bad for Bram if he was like this. Abby had known Simon for just under a year, and she had never seen him this happy before. It was strange -  she hadn’t seen him even flirt with someone before, and this must be why (of course, excluding the fact that Simon was gay, and had only just come out to her). His heart had been given to a stranger.

Simon and Bram also had algebra together, but sat on opposite sides of the classroom, so all that happened was Simon staring at Bram (and his mouth), and Bram trying but failing to find the y-intercept of a graph because he could feel the heat of Simon’s stare locked onto his every move.

Then it was 2 hours of Simon imagining what he would do to Bram if he had the chance (hold hands, maybe kiss a little – but in private, this was Shady Creek, not NYC).

After what felt like days (but was only 2 hours), Simon nearly screamed. Only Leah was in his next class, and although they would usually have a great time sitting next to each other and making snarky comments about their teacher (Leah absolutely despised her, and Simon wasn’t too hot on her himself), Simon was too busy thinking about how oblivious he had been to pay much attention to Leah.

Leah got crabby when she was ignored, so resorted to poking Simon with her pen very now and then to make him listen to her. Needless to say, their teacher was not very happy with them, and they just managed to slip by having a detention.

*

Simon couldn’t wait to see Bram. After 2 years of not appreciating this boy, Simon was more than ready to make up for lost time. He knew that technically, they weren’t even dating, and they had only truly realised the other’s identity this morning. Having said that, Simon was aware that he was about 87% in love with Blue, and as Bram was the boy he had fallen in love with on-screen, he felt it was justified to be a little bit obsessed. Just a little bit, though.

Simon walked into the cafeteria and immediately started beaming. Bram had switched spots with Garrett and Nick to sit next to him, and he was opening a pack of oreos. If he wasn’t already in love, this might have sealed the deal.

As Simon sat down, Bram said softly, “Hi, Jacques.”

Simon’s response was just a breath, an exhale of “Blue.”

“Do you want an oreo, or two… or five?” Bram smiled mischievously.

Simon happily took him up on that offer, and as he ran up to buy some milk, he thought about how lucky he was to have stumbled across Bram’s creeksecrets post all those months ago.

Bram was just happy he could finally talk to Simon without stuttering and/or word vomiting.

When Simon returned, the whole lunch gang was there. Morgan and Anna were excitedly whispering about this new manga that had, like, changed their whole lives – did Simon think it was going to be turned into an anime? (the answer was no.) Leah was picking apart her stringy cheese pizza, Abby was squealing about the latest movie she had seen with Nick to Garrett (who was zoned out) and Nick was googling ‘are weird dreams trying to tell me something’, again.

He figured it was safe to try and talk to Bram without Abby covertly giving him a thumbs up.

“So…”

Simon had never felt this awkward in his life, and that was including barfing all over his second girlfriend and then immediately calling his mom to tell her about it (and to beg her to come and pick him up from her house, yes he knew this was the first time he had been over and no he didn’t know she wasn’t at home). He ended up staying at her house in her spare room overnight and they broke up a week later. Some people just aren’t meant to be, he guessed. (This was after Simon had figured out that he was gay, although he was still in denial. Some experiences are apparently not too traumatic to repeat, and he felt himself falling down that same rabbit hole with his third and final girlfriend too.)

Simon finally decided to ask “How did you know it was me?”

“Well, you turned bright red as soon as you saw me this morning.” Bram was half-smiling and Simon though it was the most adorable thing to grace this earth, ever. “You also talk the same way you write, so I managed to figure it out a while ago. Or maybe I just hoped it would be you.”

“Oh.

Well, we did email about this. I am the least observant person on the planet. I only figured out who you were because of Abby.”

There it was again – Bram’s soft smile.

The one that said Bram was so far gone on Simon, he could tell Bram to jump off a cliff and he would do it, so long as he was falling with Simon.

Or so Bram thought. Simon was just entranced by the shape of Bram’s lips when they moved, and how soft they looked. He noticed a slight scar on the top of Bram’s cupid’s bow, and moved to touch it.

Bram jerked backwards, just a bit. Wow. He never expected Simon to do that in a million years. Maybe Bram himself would do something like that when they were alone, or during a momentary lapse in judgement at the lunch table if (or when, hopefully) they started going out. But never, ever in front of the whole school when neither of them were out. Maybe this was an over-reaction, but only Garrett (and now Simon and Abby and Nick and Leah) knew he was gay. This could potentially out him to the whole school.

No one was watching. He could do this.

Taking a deep breath, Bram leaned in towards Simon, a bit closer than he was before. He smiled, and Simon did too, that half worried, half nervous expression sliding right off his face.

“Hi.” Bram whispered.

“Hi.” Simon’s face lit up like a firework display at Disneyland.

Leah tried to shout “Ugh, get a room. There’s no reason to make me sick up this rubbery pizza even more than I already have.” But she was smiling, as much as she tried not to. She was happy for Simon, and after watching him go through not one but three awkward relationships with girls he didn’t even like, it was all the more sweeter.

Simon had a sudden burst of inspiration, and told Bram to follow him, ignoring questions from Nick, Garrett and Leah. Abby just smirked. Words couldn’t describe how much Simon was wanting this, had been wanting this for months and months.

Bram tried to keep up with Simon, but not knowing where they were going made it a little harder. Simon was speed walking down the corridor, and in all honesty, Bram had never seen Simon walk that fast in his life. It was a little disorientating.

Getting to the auditorium in one piece was a task Simon and Bram had achieved with relative ease, so without further ado, Simon opened the door. Seeing it bare was a bit strange, given that their production of Oliver had taken over the studio for weeks. Ignoring this, Simon reached for Bram’s hand and started to gently pull it – towards the boys dressing room.

Oh.

Bram didn’t know if he was ready for this, but there was only one way to find out. He shut the door behind them softly, and then turned around. There was Simon, just waiting. He looked so vulnerable, and all Bram could think of was how much he wanted to kiss him.

He leaned forward, as Simon did the exact same. He caressed the outline of Simon’s jaw, just barely there, and then hooked his slender fingers around Simon’s neck, pulling him closer.

They kissed, and Bram saw fireworks beneath his eyelids, an explosion of light and colour. Simon had tugged Bram closer, again, and that made coming up for air impossible (not that either of them would ever want to stop).

Simon thought to himself how lucky he was, and Bram wondered what his life would be like if he hadn’t posted that creeksecrets post all those months ago. Probably still closeted and lonely, but on top of schoolwork. He could already feel that Simon would be an all-consuming presence in his life, making everything rose-tinted and much, much better, and he had only confirmed Jacques’ identity this morning.

Stopping their kissing so they could breathe was the single worst decision in the history of his life, Simon decided. The second kiss of his life (the first that was with a boy and that actually counted), and he was already intoxicated. Bram was the best thing his lips had ever tasted, and that included oreos. A big honour, but he was worth it.

Bram was impatient. He reached for Simon’s hand again, and slowly stroked it. Simon could feel his goosebumps threatening to erupt from the surface of his skin. He had had enough.

Simon went in for a kiss again, and misjudged the positioning of Bram’s head. He bumped into it with quite some force, and giggled, just a little bit. Simon Spier had been reduced to giggling by this boy, who liked him and was not afraid to show it, who had the softest eyes Simon had ever seen and who kissed like Elliott Smith sang.

Bram then sat down. He jumped out of his seat when his phone buzzed, but it was just Garrett and Nick, asking him where he had gone since Simon wasn’t answering anyone’s texts either. He laughed quietly and settled into the plastic chair he was resting on.

“How did you realise it was me? I’m curious to know.” Bram smiled that precious smile of his, and Simon felt like he had been struck through the heart with an arrow.

“Well, it was actually Abby.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that.”

“She deserves some credit, but obviously I did most of the work.”

“Obviously. I would never doubt someone who ran away from their girlfriend at his middle school homecoming.” Bram laughed, and Simon did too.

“Of course. No, she managed to figure out what 118 meant in your email, and we went from there, I guess.”

“Well, I’m glad you did.”

Simon couldn’t take Bram’s shy smile anymore – he kissed him, and kept on kissing and kissing and kissing until the bell rang.

It was the best thing Simon had ever done, and the most perfect day of his life.

*

(And if Simon conveniently forgot about the bet, well, Abby wasn't too fussed. She would just have to get Simon to buy her some waffles the next time they went to to WaHo.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i went to see love, simon yesterday and i cried twice!  
> it was everything i hoped it would be and more, and i'm so happy it's finally a film  
> (please ignore any school stuff which isn't right, i live in the uk and couldn't be bothered to do that much research)  
> sorry it took so long to get up, my sister's birthday took up more of my time than i had anticipated  
> if you enjoyed it, maybe leave kudos/comments?  
> thanks for reading xx  
> {side note: this has not been beta-ed}

**Author's Note:**

> next chapter will be up sometime in the next week?  
> (i am very english and have never been to america in my life so ignore english vs american spelling pls thank you, also waffle house sounds amazing i wish they had that in the uk)  
> hope you enjoyed it, please leave a comment and/or kudos if you did!


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